:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45183708/usa-today-8320008.0.jpg)
Game of the Night: Michigan State @ Iowa
Travis Trice scored 11 points in about two and a half minutes midway through the second half, and all of the sudden it was a different ballgame. Throughout the first half it appeared the Iowa Hawkeyes were clearly the better and more composed team as they took a 39-28 lead into the half. Unfortunately for Iowa, there was still a second half to come. MSU outscored the Hawkeyes 47-22 in the final session, including shooting a ridiculous 8 of 9 from beyond the arc.
With the 75-61 victory at Iowa, the Michigan State Spartans look like they could be a leading candidate for second best team in the league along with Maryland and Ohio State. With Branden Dawson looking like he is close to being 100%, he had a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds, Izzo's team can make people forget about any early season struggles. Along with Dawson, Trice scored 25 and Denzel Valentine added 18 points, 9 boards and 6 assists. Iowa was led by Gabriel Olaseni with 18 points and Jared Uthoff who had 12 points and 10 rebounds
Rutgers @ Nebraska
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights took to the road last night and played their first B1G game away from the RAC against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Both teams have had some shocking struggles this season, to go along with a few decent wins, so the possibilities were wide open going in. In the first half both teams struggled to score as Nebraska took a 26-23 lead into the break, but in the second half the Huskers got going while Rutgers remained stagnant, leading to 65-49 victory for the home team. Leslee Smith and Moses Abraham both returned to the lineup for Nebraska and both played 13 minutes in the win.
The Huskers were led in scoring by Terran Petteway with 20 points, also adding 5 assists and 2 steals. Benny Parker also had an impressive night scoring 9 points on a perfect shooting night from the field, the line and behind the arc. RU got 12 points off the bench from Bishop Daniels while leading scorers Myles Mack and Kadeem Jack had 8 and 11 respectively. Nebrasketball draws Illinois on Sunday, and Rutgers gets to welcome Wisconsin to New Jersey on the same day.